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City Minister Paul Myners is seeking an independent assessment of the investment-banking industry, which he said has permeated the business world. "Investment banking has spread into everything we do in business. Company executives spend more and more time with investment bankers," he writes in The Guardian. "We need to re-examine an economic model that seems to work much better for investment banks than for businesses and workers."

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Policymakers at the Bank of Japan are willing to consider expanding the central bank's purchases of government bonds as well as an emergency loan programme for banks if the economic recovery falters, sources said. For now, most economists expect the central bank to maintain interest rates and its lending programme, but that could change. "Should a rise in the yen threaten to damp corporate and consumer sentiment and exacerbate deflation, the BoJ will probably expand the loan programme," said Masaaki Kanno, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase in Tokyo. "If that's not enough, the bank may turn to more bond buying."

The China Securities Regulatory Commission, in an effort to limit risks, said brokerages must have net capital of 5 billion yuan or more to participate in a trial of short selling and margin trading of stocks. "We will gradually loosen the requirements and expand the pilot programmes to more securities firms after the first batch of selected firms achieve successful results," a CSRC official said.

Bankers from around the world will gather in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum to discuss the financial crisis, its fallout and the need for improving the financial system. While the consensus is for developing a stronger system, the difficult part likely will be deciding how to go about it. Many high-profile bankers declined to attend last year's meeting, but most major banks, including Citigroup, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America, will be represented this year.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King and US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair signed an agreement that the regulators will increase cooperation when dealing with banks that have operations in the UK and the US. "The recent financial crisis demonstrates that greater international coordination among resolution authorities as well as resolution processes capable of resolving the largest, most complex financial institutions are necessary to protect the public," Bair said.

José Manuel González-Páramo, a member of the European Central Bank's executive board, discussed a proposal to disclose loan-level data on residential mortgage-backed securities to market participants. "The proposed disclosure standards have been designed with the idea of making the new information available to all market stakeholders without distinction, whether they are investors, rating agencies or originators," he said. González-Páramo explained the reasons this is important and how securitisation markets are vital to a strong, growing economy.